Benghazi-gate Hearings

Benghazi Hearings

1. There Was a Stand Down Order

Though some the details are still fuzzy, someone issued a stand down order that prevented Special Forces from traveling to Benghazi to intervene after the attack.

Hicks, the former deputy chief of mission for the U.S. in Libya and the highest ranking official in the country at the time of the Benghazi attacks, testified that either AFRICOMM or SOCAFRICA issued the stand down order, though he didn’t have a name or where the command originated.

Hicks said Lt. Col. Gibson, a Special Operations Command (SOC) Africa commander, was “furious” after receiving the stand down order. “Lt. Col. Gibson was furious. I had told him to go bring our people home. That’s what he wanted to do,” he said.

However, the burning question remains: Who, with the appropriate authority, actually gave the stand down order? And why?

2. Whistleblower ‘Effectively Demoted’ After Questioning Benghazi Talking Points

 Gregory Hicks told members of Congress that he has been “effectively demoted” from his position as deputy chief of mission shortly after he questioned United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice’s explanation that the Benghazi attack was the result of a spontaneous protest sparked by a YouTube video.

Hicks, the former deputy chief of mission under murdered U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, now holds the title of foreign affairs officer in the Office of Global Intergovernmental Affairs.

“In hindsight I think it began after I asked a question about Ambassador Rice’s statement on the TV shows,” Hicks said, after being asked what the “seminal” moment had been in all of his new professional criticism.

3. Benghazi Witness Told Not to Speak With Congressional Investigator Alone

 Hicks on Wednesday also revealed that he was told by Obama administration officials not to talk with Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) unsupervised.

A State Department lawyer accompanied the delegation and tried to be in every single meeting he was involved in, Hicks claimed.

Chaffetz, who traveled to Benghazi after the attack to investigate, also claimed back in October that the administration assigned a State Department attorney to follow him in his every “footstep” during his investigative trip.

4. Who Is Lt. Col. Gibson?

 Benghazi whistleblower Gregory Hicks repeatedly brought up a man by the name of Lt. Col. Gibson. Other than the fact that he was a Special Operations Command (SOC) Africa commander, we don’t know much else about him.

But more importantly, we don’t know what else he knows about the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2012. On the night of the Benghazi attack, Gibson was “furious” when a stand down order was given, preventing Special Forces from intervening in Libya, Hicks testified.

Hicks said Gibson wanted to bring the Americans trapped in Benghazi home, but was unable to act. Does Gibson know who personally issued the stand down order? Does he know how far up the chain of command the order originated?

These are questions to keep in mind as the investigation proceeds.

5. State Department Official Fingered Terror Group Day After Attack

 One of the biggest points of contention in the Benghazi investigation has been: Why did the Obama administration initially blame the terrorist attack on a YouTube video when there was no apparent evidence to support that theory? During the House Oversight Committee hearing on the Benghazi attack, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) read from an email sent by Beth Jones, the acting assistant secretary for Middle Eastern affairs at the State Department, to Benghazi whistleblower Gregory Hicks and other top administration officials. In it, she fingered Ansar al-Sharia, a radical Islamic terror group, as the perpetrator behind the attack after the Libyan government speculated that they might be ex-Gadhafi forces.

The email was sent the day after the attack on Sept. 12, 2012 — well before the Obama administration started pushing the YouTube video narrative.

“I spoke to the Libyan ambassador and emphasized the importance of Libyan leaders continuing to make strong statements,” the email read. “When he said his government expected that former Ghadafi regime elements carried out the attacks, I told him that the group that conducted the attacks, Ansar al-Sharia, is affiliated with Islamic terrorists.”

Gowdy said the email was previously unreleased, but not classified.

Source: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/08/here-are-the-5-key-things-to-take-away-from-wednesdays-benghazi-hearing/

ANY QUESTIONS?

Related articles

• Hicks: Special Forces ‘Furious’ Upon Being Told to Stand Down (nationalreview.com)
• The Key To Benghazi (rightwinggranny.com)
• Benghazi whistleblower: U.S. special forces were told to stand down during attack (hotair.com)
• WITNESS: Anti-islamic YOUTUBE video ‘non-event’ in Libya… (breitbart.com)
• Benghazi Hearings Live Blog (pjmedia.com)
• Whistleblower: Special Forces Told They Could Not Go Assist During Benghazi Attack (pjmedia.com)
• BENGHAZI WHISTLEBLOWER: ‘I Was Stunned’ And ‘Embarrassed’ By Susan Rice’s Talk Show Appearances (businessinsider.com)
• Benghazi whistle-blowers to testify; State defends its actions (usatoday.com)
• The Latest Benghazi Silliness: A Preemptive Attack on Hillary Clinton (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Hicks: Clinton Confidante Was ‘Very Upset’ Over My Cooperating in Investigation (nationalreview.com)

How much Taxpayer Money is Spent on Foreign Aid and Where does it Go?

U.S. Foreign Aid By Country

Submitted by pawnstorm12 on Sat, 04/27/2013

• Daily Paul Liberty Forum

U.S. Foreign Aid By Country

The United States is notorious for having its fingers in many pies. One of the ways Uncle Sam tries to coerce other states to get in line with his preferred policies is by doling out foreign aid — lots of it.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) states that its function is to provide “economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States.” While the effectiveness of foreign aid remains up for debate, the United States recently has continued to pump around $50 billion in aid to other countries each year.

In terms of the absolute value of aid given, the United States is the world’s top donor by far. So where is all that money going?

See where U.S. dollars flow below.

Here are the top ten recipients of U.S. foreign aid for 2012 (Data from July 2012 Congressional Research Service report):

10) Tanzania ($531 million)

9) Ethiopia ($580 million)

8) Nigeria ($625 million)

7) Kenya ($625 million)

6) Jordan ($676 Million)

5) Egypt ($1,557 million)

4) Iraq ($1,683 million) With many reconstruction efforts completed, assistance to Iraq has declined recently. Billions of U.S. dollars have been wasted since 2003, with much of the money going into corrupt contracts.

3) Pakistan: ($2,102 million) Pakistan comes in ahead of Iraq. U.S.-Pakistan relations may be rocky, but the country is considered one of three “frontline states” on the war on terror. Security assistance and aid “designed to limit the appeal of extremist organizations”

2) Afghanistan: ($2,327 million). After over a decade at war and ahead of the United States’ planned withdrawal in 2014, Afghanistan remains a top recipient of U.S. foreign affairs spending.

AND…

The number ONE recipient of U.S. Foreign Aid IS…(Not surprisingly)…

1) Israel: ($3,075 million) Israel’s special relationship with the United States pays off when it comes to foreign aid. The Jewish state has long been a top recipient of foreign aid, receiving nearly $3.1 billion in 2012.

http://www.dailypaul.com/283668/us-foreign-aid-by-country

ANY QUESTIONS?

 

We are not going to forget Benghazi, Mr. President

AND NEITHER ARE YOU HILLARY

ANY QUESTIONS?

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• Forget The Threats , Subpoena Benghazi Survivors NOW (youviewed.com)
• ‘Guccifer’ hacker sends out Hillary Clinton’s memos on Benghazi (washingtontimes.com)
• John McCain Gets Heated With David Gregory Over Benghazi: ‘Do You Care Whether Four Americans Died?’ (mediaite.com)
• Draper: Don’t forget Benghazi attack (wickedlocal.com)
• House Republicans Demand Access to Benghazi Survivors (nationalreview.com)
• CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson reviews the many still-unanswered questions about Benghazi terror attack (twitchy.com)

 

Gutting the 2nd Amendment: Were not Fools Mr. President

The discussion of target shooting, hunting, and “sporting purposes” is moot. There is no debate about taking away someone’s single shot trap gun or little double barrel dove gun. Anyone can look at the U.K., where firearms are not an acceptable form of self defense. Yet, they are allowed to break pieces of clay and kill released pheasants despite the lack of a 2nd Amendment. Some of the most oppressive regimes of the world grant scatter-gun privileges.

It is a foolish discussion, as breaking pieces of clay needs no protection. It is the same with the 1st Amendment, for non-controversial speech needs no protection. It is only the controversial, perhaps unsavory, perhaps troubling to some type of speech that needs protection. You may be disgusted with flag-burning, but that is protected free speech.

 The way rights are constrained and taken away is not hard to figure out; history shows exactly how it happens over and over again. A classic method is to covert a Right to a Privilege. Once that is accomplished, it opens up the hoary “what do you NEED it for” dialogue. If compelled to show a need, it is no longer a Right. The correct answer to “What Do You Need it For?” is called nobody’s business.

 Gutting the 2nd Amendment takes time, the most crazed anti-gunners know this. Unable to directly void the 2nd Amendment, they are clever enough to chip away at it, gobble up the perimeters, and divide the U.S. gun-owner. Knowing that Americans are a selfish lot and largely care only about the rights that they choose to personally exercise, it is throw bones and false assurances to hunters and target shooters so they are sheeped into inaction, feeling good that their little part of the firearm world is not imperiled.

 Now, the standard fare is to relabel, mislabel, and recast that which they wish to ban. Self-loading rifles are now “assault weapons” as are some pistols, weapons of war, weapons of mass destruction, the scourge of Mankind. Sheep a mindless population into believing repeating rifles and pistols are the same as Armed Predator Drones, landmines, booby traps, and rocket-propelled grenades and you are well on your way.

 Also, soft pedal and dumb down the actual facts: gun crime has declined in the United States by over 50% in the last twenty years. Gun crime declines year after year, according to the FBI, but the facts don’t mess with the emotional “we have to do something” shrill mantra of the uninformed. Standard technique: over-report gun crime, sensationalize it, don’t mention that gun control was a massive failure in Canada and that Mexico has some of the most radical gun laws in the world– but extremely high crime. Also, never report that over 2,000,000 times every year, crimes are thwarted by U.S. private citizens with guns. That needs to be kept hush-hush, for it doesn’t not work with the gun-grabster dialogue.

 Beyond that, lie. Lie like crazy, lie on Capitol Hill. Sit there with a straight face and tell people that 40% of the nasty crime guns come from gun shows. Lie, lie, lie. Don’t let the sheep of America ever know that according to the FBI data from 1997, 2% of the firearms acquired by Federal inmates came from gun shows.

 We know that Federal inmates, those convicted of crime, get 2% of their firearms from gun shows. 2%, yet recently in the Senate hearings 40% was stated as fact. It is a factual lie, but that doesn’t matter . . . for the gunshow has been re-branded as a “loophole” and if you cry “loophole” loud and long enough, some people will actually start to believe it. Overstating gun shows as a source of firearms for criminals by TWENTY TIMES is no accounting error: it is an amazingly bold, easily discernible lie.

 One can only hope that the American public will grow weary of being lied to and treated like sea-slug stupid sheep, not constituents. We should vote for candidates to actually protect rights, not steal them away.

ANY QUESTIONS?

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• The Second Amendment is my Gun Permit! (twighlightslastgleaming.wordpress.com)

 

Dear Gun Control Activists, Its time for you to Sober Up

ANY QUESTIONS?

Can we trust Barack Obama with our Second Amendment Gun Rights?

ANY QUESTIONS?

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Israel’s Iron Dome

ANY QUESTIONS?

The Criminality of Liberal Politics

How long can one continue on with lies and deceptions before they all blow up in ones face? Given the less then honest history of this President and his associates one has to wonder how long he and his cohorts can get away with it. My guess is we will be seeing one devastating scandal after the other being exposed over the next four years providing this President can endure the fallout as the lies are exposed and the American People finally wake up.

My Mission these past four years was to hopefully wake up enough of the American people to make a difference in the 2012 Elections.  I obviously failed in that Mission but will continue on as a Voting American in my next Mission and that will be to expose each and every corruption of this second term administration.

Make no mistake about it. Once exposed to the real truth there is nothing more vengeful then a Scorned American Electorate

I’m a Voting American and I’m Mad as Hell

Related articles

• Useful Liberal Idiots and Vote Fraud (americanthinker.com)

Happy Halloween from the Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue

Mr. President

How do you sleep at night?

WAKE UP AMERICA

The most important Election in the History of these United States is about to take place and YOU will determine what America will Become or what she will Remain

Hat tip to The Blaze for reporting this story

Joe Biden to Father of Former Navy SEAL Killed in Benghazi: ‘Did Your Son Always Have Balls the Size of Cue Balls?’

The father of one of the former Navy SEALs killed in the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya says President Barack Obama wouldn’t even look him in the eye and Vice President Joe Biden was disrespectful during the ceremony when his son’s body returned to America. He also says the White House’s story on the attack doesn’t pass the smell test.

Charles Woods, father of Tyrone Woods, called into “The Glenn Beck Program” on TheBlazeTV Thursday and recounted his interactions with the president, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Biden at the ceremony for the Libya victims at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. He told host Glenn Beck that what they told him, coupled with new reports that indicate the Obama administration knew very good and well, almost immediately, that a terrorist attack was occurring in Benghazi, make him certain that the American people are not getting the whole truth.

Vice President Biden, as he has become known to do, reportedly made a wildly inappropriate comment to the father who had just lost his hero son.

Woods said Biden came over to his family and asked in a “loud and boisterous” voice, “Did your son always have balls the size of cue balls?”

“Are these the words of someone who is sorry?” said Woods.

The grieving father also described his brief encounter with President Obama during the ceremony for the Libya victims.

“When he finally came over to where we were, I could tell that he was rather conflicted, a person who was not at peace with himself,” Woods said.

“Shaking hands with him, quite frankly, was like shaking hands with a dead fish. His face was pointed towards me but he would not look me in the eye, his eyes were over my shoulder.”

“I could tell that he was not sorry,” he added. “He had no remorse.”

Beck said he wanted to give the president “the benefit of the doubt,” and asked Woods how he could be sure that Obama wasn’t just uncomfortable or nervous during their conversation. Woods said it was Obama’s “demeanor.”

Hillary Clinton’s comments to Woods raise even more questions about the White House’s official story on the Benghazi attack, which has already been extremely inconsistent.

After apologizing for his loss, Woods said Clinton told him that the U.S. would “make sure that the person who made that film is arrested and prosecuted.”

Obviously, Clinton was referring to the anti-Muslim YouTube video that the Obama administration spent nearly two weeks blaming for the attack. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, Clinton and the president himself all blamed the video at various points. Beck pointed out that the White House is now trying to claim that it has always considered terrorism as the cause of the attack.

“When she said that, I could tell that she was not telling me the truth,” Woods said about Clinton.

Watch part I of the interview with Beck here via TheBlazeTV:

Reading another State Department email that further calls into question the U.S. response to the attack, Beck revealed that the U.S. government was made aware that the compound in Benghazi was under attack by “mortar fire,” hardly a sign of a spontaneous protest.

“The question that I had in my mind,” Woods replied, “was why did we not do something to protect our forces?”

“We didn’t even dispatch anybody,” Beck lamented.

“You released the information that the White House within minutes of the attack, watched in real time the events unfolding,” Woods told Beck earlier in the program. “They denied the pleas for help and they watched my son die.”

Woods went on to read the following statement, in honor of his son:

“I want to honor my son, Ty Woods, who responded to the cries for help and voluntarily sacrificed his life to protect the lives of other Americans. In the last few days it has become public knowledge that within minutes of the first bullet being fired the White House knew these heroes would be slaughtered if immediate air support was denied. Apparently, C-130s were ready to respond immediately. In less than an hour, the perimeters could have been secured and American lives could have been saved. After seven hours fighting numerically superior forces, my son’s life was sacrificed because of the White House’s decision. This has nothing to do with politics, this has to do with integrity and honor. My son was a true American hero. We need more heroes today. My son showed moral courage. This is an opportunity for the person or persons who made the decision to sacrifice my son’s life to stand up.”

Tears in his eyes, Beck told Woods that his son was not even there for security purposes but after hearing cries for help he voluntarily protected his fellow Americans, knowing his life would be put in danger. Beck called Tyrone Woods a “hero” multiple times throughout the show.

“I am sorry for your loss, and I know there are millions of Americans that are sorry for your loss,” Beck concluded.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/joe-biden-to-father-of-former-navy-seal-killed-in-benghazi-did-your-son-always-have-balls-the-size-of-cue-balls/

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Clueless Obama Supporters in their Own Words

Hat tip to The Blaze for this report

Obama Supporters Slam ‘Romney’ Policies…Then Find Out They’re Actually Obama’s

Back in September, radio personality Howard Stern highlighted an often overlooked aspect of the average voter– namely, that they tend to feel strongly about the candidates they like and dislike, but know very little about what the candidates actually stand for.

In a new video by “We Are Change,” controversial reporter Luke Rudkowski (he appears to have a number of 9/11 “truther” connections)  went to New York City, where he told a number of self-described Obama voters that the president’s policies are actually being supported by Mitt Romney.

Though Rudkowski has a history of “stirring the pot,” it’s certainly fascinating to see how people respond.

Romney was quickly called “crazy,” “his” policies deemed “unconstitutional” and “immoral.”  The crowd seemed particularly disturbed by the expansion of the Patriot Act, the National Defense Authorization Act (which allows U.S. citizens to be detained without trial), and the proposed “Kill List.”

So what happened when Rudkowski had to tell the group that the policies they just eviscerated were actually being supported by their presidential pick?

To their credit, a number of the voters said they needed to look it up and do some more homework.  Others refused to believe the man, while others spun 180 degrees almost immediately.

One girl concluded: “Well, I mean, I understand what you’re saying, but there’s a lot of other reasons I’m going to vote for Obama, and hearing that stuff honestly doesn’t change it…”

In the video’s description, the organization reiterated that their intention is not to support Mitt Romney, but to try to get an honest answer on certain issues.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/obama-supporters-slam-romney-policies-then-find-out-theyre-actually-obamas/

Hat tip to Freedombytheway for this most excellent exerpt:

As the 2012 Presidential election rapidly approaches, I would like to share a quote from an article (translated into English) from the Prager Zeitung, a publication in the Czech Republic, dated 18 April 2011.
“The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting an inexperienced man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an

Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of Idiots such as those who made him their president.”

http://freedombytheway.com/2012/05/15/can-america-survive-a-multitude-of-idiots/

ANY QUESTIONS?